Ambie's Note: Here's chapter nine...it's actually a pretty short one compared to the preceding chapters...and not much happens, but this stuff IS important. I dunno how many similarities are in this one, but there are bound to be SOME.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Persona Series.

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Chapter Nine:

The lunch bell sounded at noon as it usually did and Misaki couldn't feel any more relieved about being able to eat. Normally that wouldn't have mattered to her, but today she was having difficulties following a novel her Classic Literature class was reading…for multiple reasons. For one the novel sucked, for two the novel was written in an archaic language, and for three she didn't have the ability to pay attention because of recent events.

Yori stood up in his desk and stretched his arms over his head, releasing a loud yawn. "Damn guys, do you have ANY idea what the hell this story is about," he asked with another stretch, "I fell asleep as soon as she started to read it."

Ryuunosuke stood up and stretched himself, "No clue." He stated simply.

Misaki shook her head and got out of her seat, "Nope." She stated and shoved the crappy book into her desk. "When the teacher started to the reading, my mind disappeared…"

Yori sighed in annoyance, "Damn…this means that we're all gonna fail this section of the Midterms; well for me this section and every other section."

Ryuunosuke smirked and nodded, "I completely agree with you Yori; you're gonna fail every section of the Midterms."

Misaki laughed lightly at Ryuunosuke's response but stopped when her stomach growled; she laid her hand on it with an embarrassed smile. "I'm hungry, let's go get some lunch."

"Where at," Yori questioned.

Ryuunosuke thought for a second, "Hmm…what's being served in the cafeteria today?"

"Today's Thursday right," Yori asked…well more like stated, "since it's towards the middle of the month that means today's lunch is—it's the Sushi Buffet!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Ryuunosuke's deep blue eyes went wide and a happy smile appeared on his face, "Seriously!? YES, I've been waiting for the Sushi Buffet ALL MONTH LONG…it's the only thing that's edible here." He said, the last part quietly.

Misaki cringed with disgust at the mention of sushi. She had never liked the stuff, well not since she was three anyway. She remembered that the family had gone to the beach for the day and they had taken a cooler of sushi with them and on the way there Misaki got hungry and grabbed herself a small helping of the food. She was able to eat most of it, but when the family arrived at the beach she laid the food on the floor of the family car. When the day was done and the family was getting ready to leave, Misaki had forgotten that the sushi she had had been sitting out all day and she took a bite; she ended up puking up everything she had put in her mouth that day and never touched sushi again.

Misaki shook her head, "Ugh…just hearing that word makes me wanna hurl." She said and saw Ryuunosuke's and Yori's faces change from happiness to shock. Misaki raised an eyebrow and asked, "what? I know that sushi is, like, the most famous food from Japan, but I've had a HORRIBLE experience with it and haven't dared to touch the stuff since I was three."

"No way Misaki," Ryuunosuke said, "how the hell can you hate sushi? What in the world happened to make you not desire it anymore?"

Misaki looked away and shivered slightly, "I don't wanna talk about it." She said and changed the subject. "I think I'll go uptown and get some take-out or something, you two can go eat some raw fish wrapped up in seaweed if you REALLY want to."

The two guys sighed with nods, "Alright, alright," Ryuunosuke said, "we'll see you after lunch."

Misaki nodded, "Ok, c'ya." She said and Yori and Ryuunosuke headed to the cafeteria to eat the horrible fish food.

After checking to make sure she had some money on her, Misaki headed out of Classroom 2-3 and walked down the main staircase. When she was on the last step she checked the clock on the wall and nodded approvingly at the time; she had 50 minutes to get something for her lunch.

"Hey Misaki-senpai," a female's voice called just as Misaki was getting ready to exit the school.

Misaki turned around and smiled at Tsubaki Asuno, "Hi Tsubaki-chan." She greeted happily.

Tsubaki smiled, but appeared to be worried about something, Misaki didn't question the 1st Year however. "Are you skipping on the cafeteria lunch today?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd get some quick take-out or something, why?"

Tsubaki smiled again, "Do you wanna go together?" She asked. "I'm a vegetarian so I'm not eating lunch today."

Misaki nodded, "Sure," she answered, "where do you wanna go then?"

Tsubaki shrugged, "Wherever you want Senpai." She said and sighed, seeming nervous. "Um, actually can we get something and eat somewhere more private? I kinda wanna tell you something…"

Misaki looked at Tsubaki and nodded seriously, "Ok, we can go to the Gas Station and just pick something up from there, is that alright?"

"Uh-huh, but let's make it quick, what I've gotta tell you is very important."

With that, the two girls exited the High School and made the short walk to the town's only Gas Station. When they got there, Misaki quickly picked up a medium sized lunchable, a pop, and a package of chocolate Pocky. After Misaki paid for her lunch, Tsubaki did the same and they walked to a White Gazebo semi-close to Tsudandi High and sat down.

Misaki opened her pop and took a drink, "What'd you need to talk about Tsubaki-chan?" She asked curiously took another drink of her pop.

Tsubaki looked down at the picnic table with a sigh, "Um, it's about Tsubame, my twin sister…"

At the mention of Tsubame's name, Misaki stopped drinking her drink and laid it on the table. "What about her," she asked nervously, remembering the strange text she had received.

Tsubaki sighed again and took a drink of the water she had purchased, "Remember how she was gone yesterday because she was sick?" She asked and Misaki nodded slowly. "Well, I told her good night last night, but this morning she wasn't in her bedroom when I went to see how she was feeling. I mean, she IS a little bit of a trouble-maker and tends to wander from home, but somehow I KNOW something has happened."

Misaki raised an eyebrow, "Why do you think its different this time if it's happened before?" She asked in a kind tone. "Was she acting weird or something like that?"

Tsubaki shrugged, "I-I dunno, but usually she only wanders off to blow off steam; yesterday she was at home relaxing, I don't think she had any reason to get angry." She replied. "As for acting weird, she WAS saying something about a strange dream she had had about a three-faced person on a horse talking to her about 'potential.'" She said with another shrug. "I'm not sure why, but that dream seemed to be weird coming from her…"

"Um, I hate to bring this up, but did you see any signs of struggle or hear any strange noises overnight," Misaki asked, carefully placing her words.

At that question, Tsubaki's gray-blue eyes widened and much worry was apparent within them. "No noises, but her blankets were all messed up and a few of her things seemed as though they were shoved off the shelf," she explained, "B-BUT her room has always been messy and stuff so I didn't take it too seriously; however—now that you mention it—it does kinda strike me as odd…"

Misaki nodded slowly and took another sip of her drink, "Not that I mind helping, but why come to me of all people?"

Tsubaki shook her head, "I-I dunno, but for some reason something that makes me think that only YOU can figure out what's happened to Tsubame."

"Why though Tsubaki-chan," she asked, "can you figure out WHAT makes you feel that way?"

"No I can't, but I feel like you may know something and—" Tsubaki cut herself off quickly, "I-I'm not accusing you or anything like that, please don't think that's why and—do you have ANY ideas?"

For some reason, Misaki felt as though Tsubaki had an idea about her Persona, and she strongly believed that Tsubaki could be trusted with the information on Wansubo. "Ok Tsubaki-chan," she started and put her drink on the table, "I'm gonna tell you something, but I want you to keep it between us."

Tsubaki nodded, "Of course Senpai, ANY kinda information about where Tsubame MIGHT be will help me so much." She said.

With a nod, Misaki began to explain everything that had happened to her in the past few days of living and Hagakue. Everything from Personas to Shadows and Luneicia, Wansubo and the weird portal that was opened by Misaki's cell. As Misaki explained all of this, the two girls steadily ate their lunches, and by the end of the description their food was gone and they were on the last sips of their drinks.

At the end of the discussion, Tsubaki shook her head, "To anybody other than me, that story would sound completely made up, but somehow I find it completely believable." The 1st Year said with a sigh. "I know this is sudden, but I want to go with you to Ryuunosuke-senpai's house tonight and I want to see the place you called 'Wansubo.'"

Misaki's eyes went wide, "It's dangerous though," she said. "For one it's impossible to see through the weird 1960s Hippie swirly-ness, and for two Yori, Ryuunosuke and I might end up having to fight some sort of battle and you don't have a weapon or anything."

Tsubaki looked down sadly, "That may be true, but I just KNOW Tsubame is in that world and I wanna get her out safely…I-I feel responsible for my sister's safety." She said and jerked her head up and looked at Misaki with tears welling up in her gray-blue eyes. "Please, I promise I won't get in the way and I promise I won't tell anybody about it…please Senpai…I feel like this is something I NEED to do!"

Misaki sighed and looked down, "I know how you feel, but I don't want to put you OR your sister in danger and I—"

"Please Senpai," Tsubaki begged, practically in a whisper.

After a look into Tsubaki's teared up eyes Misaki sighed again, "Ok…if you don't have a weapon, I'll protect you if that need arises," she said and saw Tsubaki's face light up, "HOWEVER, if Tsubame-chan IS in that world somewhere I don't want you to overreact and go rushing in alone; leave the rescuing to Ryuunosuke, Yori and I, do you understand Tsubaki-chan?"

Tsubaki smiled in relief and she nodded, "You have my word Senpai." She said and looked at her watch. "Um…lunch will be over in about ten minutes; we should be getting back to the school."

Misaki nodded and the two girls stood up; they walked over to a nearby trashcan and tossed away their leftover messes. After the last piece of trash was thrown away, they jogged back to Tsudandi at a constant pace. As the High School came into sight, Misaki realized if Tsubame was within Wansubo, the hunch she had about the text being a warning may have been true which meant that there was more to the other world than originally thought.

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Ambie's Second Note: AHA AGAIN! The plot CONTINUES to thicken...uh...yeah, sorry about that. Anyways please leave reviews, I'd be very happy!